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Text Scrivener Blooms lay shivering and alone in the darkness, his subconscious, half-wyrm, half-pony self slowly sitting up as he breathed hard in and out. He looked tiredly back and forth, blood splattered over his face… and then he raised his head with a shiver of horror as an impossible voice said kindly: "Hello, cheating little mortal. It's such a pleasure to see you again…" Slowly, Scrivy hauled himself to his hooves, turning around with a shudder… and then he stumbled backwards and fell to sit on his haunches, staring in horror at the sight of a bipedal, smiling white dragon in a pristine ivory suit, looking elegant and refined as the crystal, wolf-shaped bolo tie at his neck glimmered. Two long black horns stood out of his skull, and his amber eyes gleamed maliciously, his handsome features somehow childlike, petulant, for all his terrible splendor and grace. "Valthrudnir…" "Yes and no, Scrivener Blooms, yes and no." Valthrudnir replied patronizingly, leaning back in a comfortable ash throne as he rested an arm on a table, grinning widely at the male. "You see, sadly, Brynhild was capable of killing me… merely a fragment of the Valkyrie she had once been or not, she still carried that divine spark necessary to outright kill me. A mortal like you couldn't do it, soul-bound or not… but her horn, unfortunately…" Valthrudnir's smile faded for a moment, grasping at one eye, and Scrivener snorted in disgust before he winced when the dragon snapped his fingers, and a massive, terrible head loomed out of the darkness around them, the snarling bog-dripping features of a Tyrant Wyrm hissing lowly as the Jötnar gazed at him distastefully. "To continue my story, and answer your question… my lovely little pets, the Tyrant Wyrms, all share a mental link with me, and were made with certain pieces of other gods and Jötnar who… how shall I put this… were persuaded to donate their organs, blood, and souls to me for my good cause." The dragon smiled slightly, and Scrivener only gritted his teeth in disgust, the pieces falling together in his mind before he interrupted rudely: "The Black Verses. When the monster shoved them into my mind, you got a hook into my brain, didn't you?" "Oh, you're just as polite as you always were. The only improvement I see is that you look more now like the belly-crawling pet rock you are." Valthrudnir replied disgustedly, and he held up a hand, gold and platinum rings on his fingers glinting as his eyes narrowed darkly. "Tell me, would you like to experience a little something I've been working on called molecular anti-synthesis? It's when the bindings between the particles that make up your body begin to break down and you slowly and visibly begin to tear apart." "Yeah, one problem. You're dead. You're just an echo, a ghost in the machine, a bad dream that won't get out of my goddamn head." Scrivener replied quietly, and he leaned forwards with a snarl as memories flashed through his mind as the dragon leaned back with a disgusted look, slowly lowering his hand. "Wait… you knocked me out somehow, didn't you?" "Please, you fatigued yourself abusing my pet's overly-generous gift of the Black Verses. Do not blame the fact your plebian mind cannot handle their magnitude upon me, philistine." Valthrudnir retorted disgustedly, and then he smiled grimly and reached up to smooth the lapels of his suit slowly out. "At most, all I did was… invite you in. You're the one who fell down the rabbit hole… you're the one who seems so eager to linger in the darkness and pursue the abuse of the little power you have, rude little creature." Scrivener gritted his teeth, leaning forwards as the bog-faced monster chortled beside Valthrudnir. Then the dragon crossed his arms, looking coldly down at Scrivener Blooms as he said softly: "I may not be the true Valthrudnir. An 'echo' is perhaps not altogether an untoward sentiment for this state I'm in. But rest assured, even at my weakest, I am still more than you ever are and ever could be. All your weapons, your strength, come from others: your pathetic little stories are stolen snippets of other pony's lives, and your physical aptitudes come from Brynhild and her romantic and devious soul-link with you… and your most powerful weapon, the Black Verses, are fueled by the link with the Void, by dredging up the raw destructive energy and endless despair that emanates from it and surges forever within its collective ranks. "You cheated, Scrivener Blooms… you cheated, and it resulted in my demise. I will not forget that… and I will not allow you and Brynhild to go happily prancing off into the sunset together. I will not allow everything I worked for to go to waste." Valthrudnir continued, standing slowly up and looming over him, terribly tall as he reached into his suit jacket and produced a deck of cards, starting to calmly shuffle as the fourteen foot dragon glared down at Scrivener Blooms. "So we're going to play a game. The rules are very simple: I'm going to try and catch you at the right moment… and then I'll destroy you. I'll work through the corruption of the Tyrant Wyrm… and while I cannot reach out and simply make Brynhild spear you through the eye as she did me, fitting and ironic and sweet delicious justice as that would be… I can still make you suffer. I plan to make you and her suffer terribly before the end… I plan to draw this out as long as possible, Scrivener Blooms, because I don't entirely want to kill you. "No. Destroy you, everything that makes you, yes. Kill you? Only if you force my hand or a particularly-entertaining method of death presents itself." Valthrudnir smiled coldly, squeezing the cards and sending them flying with a quiet hiss in an accordion to his other hand, before he swept up the bottom card and held it out, facing Scrivener Blooms… and the male shuddered and winced backwards at the snarling image of the Tyrant Wyrm on the card. "But the foundation has been laid to turn you into something a little more useful, and you seem to be eager to become it. I'd like to see if I really can convince you to just give in, one way or another… and become a new breed of destroyer. You see, I have a feeling, after all, that if I can convince you to become a monster… Brynhild will surrender, too. Maybe she even wants it herself… and just imagine, using the Black Verses and the old magic to fuse yourselves together into one awesome killing machine, a Tyrant Wyrm with the soul of a Valkyrie, and which could be even further empowered by using those magic cards of mine I know you have sealed safely away…" Scrivener snarled and shook his head, setting himself and leaning forwards as he shouted: "I won't become that! You can't make me become that, you're insane, you're nothing but a goddamn nightmare that I can't escape!" "Really, mortal?" Valthrudnir leaned down at this, grinning widely as he reached a single finger down to tap the male's nose as he said softly: "Take a good look in the mirror, Scrivener Blooms. You're far more than halfway there already. Now we just need to take down the rest of those mental stumbling blocks." Then the dragon stepped backwards and laughed as the corrupt face of the leering monster grinned beside him, Valthrudnir reaching out to rest a hand on this before he held his other hand towards Scrivy, adding kindly: "Oh, by the way. Since I'm feeling generous, you may want to wake up… this entire little revelation will be meaningless if you're murdered by Velites, after all. Go on, Scrivener Blooms, now I don't know if I'm more eager to throw you into danger or watch you continue to persevere and survive… either way, after all, I win." Scrivy yelled as he lunged forwards… but Valthrudnir vanished as the male felt his entire body jerk, before he shouted wildly again as he lashed his head upwards and his eyes opened… and he stared in horror as several Velites staggered away from him before a skeletal unicorn rasped: "Finally awake, demon? Good." Scrivener Blooms breathed hard in and out, gritting his teeth as his eyes focused slowly… and then he grunted as he dropped his head forwards, looking dumbly down at the frozen ground and his manacled rear hooves before he gazed slowly to one side, then the other: he could feel a pole at his back, likely where the chains from his manacles fed into. A second pole rested horizontally, and the male's front limbs were stretched out to either side and secured to it by chains. He cursed under his breath, struggling a bit, but the chains around his upper limbs gave him no slack and kept him standing in an awkward T, as he cursed under his breath… then he rose his head tiredly and gritted his teeth at the sight of Luna laying inside of a cage inside a circle of warding runes only a few feet away, her mane and tail sparking violently and flickering back and forth between ephemeral starlight and light blue locks as she said tiredly: "So nice of thee to join us, Scrivy. Tell me, did thou sleep well?" "Shut up, Luna." Scrivener replied moodily, and then he winced when the Velite unicorn strode forwards and stood up on his rear hooves to seize him under the muzzle, yanking his head back and forth. "You could just ask." The skeleton snarled at this, then slammed a hoof into Scrivener's stomach, making him gag and drop his head forwards, eyes clenching shut as Luna flinched in the cage and cursed under her breath, then gritted her teeth as she concentrated and sent him images, numbers, and a plan… and Scrivener groaned after a moment, not just because of the pain in his system but because of what her plan entailed. A dozen Velites, but only the one unicorn at least… although most of them are armored and armed. "So there's… no chance you can just let us go, right?" "You destroyed everything we were working for, that we were building. In a few days, we would have had a mighty dracolich to serve as the vanguard of our deathless army. And instead, you broke the bodies and spirits of every creature here and annihilated a congregation of zealots." The unicorn Velite snarled, the flames in its eyes burning higher with rage as its horn began to glow blackly and it gestured at the devastated Frozen Reef behind it and the remains of the work site, where smoke still rose up from the shattered hulks of Velite drake and the frozen-over, destroyed colossus. Then the unicorn Velite looked squarely at Scrivy as it stepped backwards, rasping breaths in and out despite the lack of its lungs as it whispered: "How could you? Why would you?" "Because we found your scouts' tracks at our home, maybe, and followed them back to your encampment… furthermore, you Velites have a nasty habit of holding grudges and coming after us given the chance. Well, Velites like you, I mean…" Scrivener looked coldly at the unicorn, saying disgustedly: "The ones who manipulate ponies and steal from the graves of the resting dead to replenish their sick army, still believing in Veliuona even though she was blown to kibbles and bits." The unicorn snarled in fury and slammed its hooves into Scrivener's stomach, making him curse in pain before he hissed when it leaned forwards and shoved its horn against his body, not gouging but instead grinding the length of it into his chest. The terrible dark glow engulfing the horn burned against his body like fire, charring into his warped flesh and sending up a hiss of steam and smoke as the male leaned his head back, agony ripping through his body as Luna clutched at her own breast with a curse of pain and anger, a welt slowly spreading and darkening as the skeletal unicorn growled: "I would not talk so loudly if I were you, demon… we know you and Luna Lightblade are pact-bound… and we are very, very eager to hurt you both." Then the unicorn stepped suddenly backwards, and Scrivener cursed as he dropped his head forwards… before the unicorn leaned back and slammed a hoof into his face, his cheekbone cracking and his head snapping to the side as blood flew from reopened cuts on his features, the unicorn asking coldly: "What are you, monster? How did you learn the words of the Tyrant Wyrms, the terrible monsters that lived a thousand years ago, in the time before Luna Lightblade became Nightmare Moon? And what are you doing with her… are the rumors true that it was Nightmare Moon who brought Ragnarok?" "My great-great-whatever had a fetish for planet-destroying parasites." Scrivener retorted, and the Velite unicorn glared at him furiously. "Luna and I met through a dating service. We hit it off and got married because we were both reformed evil entities. We're both very sorry that trying to visit Helheim for our honeymoon destroyed the planet, you have my sincerest apologies." The unicorn Velite snarled in fury, looking as if it wanted to strangle the male as Luna snorted in entertainment and grinned out of her cage, her eyes flashing in dark entertainment… but then the unicorn managed to get itself under control, cursing as its horn glowed blackly again before it slowly met Scrivener's eyes, saying coldly: "Fine, demon. It doesn't matter, because now I am going to peel the flesh from your bones to get the answers I seek. Once you are revived as one of us… once you become a Velite, a servant of Veliuona's memory… I think you will be much more willing to share your secrets with us. You and Luna Lightblade both." The creature began to lean forwards, and Scrivener snorted and mumbled something off to the side… and the unicorn immediately halted, straightening slightly as it asked darkly: "What was that?" Scrivy only shrugged, however, looking up… and the unicorn growled in frustration and fury before it rose itself up and shoved both hooves against Scrivener's shoulders, the glow fading out from around its horn as it leaned up and shouted in Scrivy's face: "Listen to me, ingrate, because this process can be as painful or as pleasant as you like, now what did you say?" Slowly, Scrivener Blooms turned to face the creature as it leaned towards him aggressively… and then the distorted pony only grinned widely, and the Velite had a moment of dumb surprise before Scrivener slammed his skull forwards as hard as he could into the unicorn's head, knocking him crashing backwards before he threw himself back against the T-shaped poles as the other Velites stared in shock, and then Scrivener roared as he braced his lower hooves against the ground and shoved forwards as he yanked with his body and threw his weight and momentum into the pull of his upper limbs, and the push of every other fiber of muscle in his frame. The wooden post tore free of the scraggy soil, and Scrivy staggered awkwardly forwards on both hooves, half-hopping towards the cage as he yanked the heavy crossed poles with him, Velites staggering out of the way and shoving at each other even as the unicorn howled: "Why aren't you idiots killing him?" A Velite leapt onto Scrivener's back, but despite the added weight, he still managed an awkward half-step forwards even as the butt of the pole dragged against the ground… and then he threw all his weight and strength into turning around with a roar, dragging the butt of the pole around in a wide semicircle that tore a trench through the dirt and ripped through the circle of warding runes, the anti-magic ward immediately sparking violently out of existence even as Scrivener flopped forwards onto his stomach with a wheeze… but even as Velites began to step forwards with snarls and hisses, Scrivener only looked up with a weak grin of his own despite the heavy pole now pinning him. "You got this?" Instead of a reply, there was a sizzle of energy… and then a crackling boom, Scrivener wincing as the cage behind him exploded in a shockwave of electricity and sapphire fire that knocked the Velites sprawling like dominoes and disintegrated the one on top of Scrivy's restraints, chunks of metal ripping through their ranks as waves of force rippled through the air before Luna stomped a hoof and cracked her neck loudly, pawing at the ground as she replied in a firm, serious voice: "I have got this, Scrivener Blooms." The Velite unicorn at the back of the fallen ranks of skeletons looked stupidly up as Luna leapt upwards, using her wings to propel her forwards before landed and charged into him, crashing against him with her shoulder and knocking him staggering before she followed up with a quick, effective slash of her horn that sliced his head from his shoulders, and the skeleton topped backwards as Luna smashed the skull out of the air without bothering to look, reducing it to fine powder. Then, as the headless skeleton began to rise, she pounced forwards and smashed it into pieces before glaring over her shoulder at the rest of the Velite band, her horn glowing sapphire as she grinned sharply. Seven were left standing: the rest had been damaged to the point where they could no longer move, and even these seven were burned, cracked, and one had several very large pieces of metal stuck through the armored vest he was wearing, rubbing awkwardly at these before Luna ran towards them. At the sight of this, one of the Velites yelled miserably and bolted to the side even as several others leapt to meet her: a force of violence powered by fury and necessity and a need to protect her beloved mixed with battle-lust and confidence in her abilities; a Valkyrie reborn, and living well up to her name. She ducked low and swept a skeleton's front leg out from beneath it with a flick of her horn, knocking it staggering even as she moved with liquid grace to brace her front hooves against the ground and twist her body, kicking both rear hooves into the face of another skeleton and then launching herself neatly backwards with a grunt to narrowly evade the lash of a rusty sword. Then she grinned, leaping forwards, horn sparking as it parried and crashed against the rusted blade guided by the remaining Velite and not even having to look down as she stomped the knocked-flat Velite as she passed, crushing its skull in before she swung her horn hard to the side and disarmed the blade-swing Velite, knocking its weapon away before she slammed her head once, twice, thrice into its skull, the last vicious headbutt shattering the bony pate and knocking it in a broken, stupefied heap. Two more Velites ran towards her as the rattled, cracked-skull survivor of Luna's hard kick charged at her back, and the winged unicorn glanced over her shoulder, tensing herself before she leapt upwards at the last moment and flapped her wings hard to boost her height, the charging Velite shooting past her and instead crashing into one of the head-on attackers, the two skeletons cursing as they collapsed in a pile together and the last staggered to the side… before he was crushed flat, bursting apart into shrapnel as the Luna landed on him and stomped her hooves up and down with a grunt. Then she disdainfully flicked her horn towards the two Velites on the ground, and a burst of sapphire fire washed over them, the two howling in misery as their bones rapidly charred, runes sparking violently as they began to fall apart as the flames ignored the rags and armor they wore and instead burned at the ivory of their bodies. Luna looked towards the last Velite, but it was still only standing stupidly, staring at her… and so she sighed and rolled her eyes, approaching it and glaring into the sockets of the earth pony Velite, looking imperiously down at it as it stared stupidly up at her, rusted chainmail jingling with its shivers before she asked sharply: "Well?" The Velite swallowed thickly, and then it slowly laid itself down in front of her and curled up, and Luna sighed and kicked it grouchily in the head, making it whimper and fidget weakly as she muttered: "Cowards. Thou art all great cowards. Very well, stay there then, it does me no honor to squash a whimpering bug." "T-Thank you." the Velite mumbled, and Luna grumbled and kicked it in the head again before she glanced towards where Scrivy was smiling exhaustedly up at her, the winged unicorn sighing as she bowed her head towards him despite the faint smile that spread over her face as their eyes met for a moment, memories, emotions and pure relief sparking back and forth between them. Then her horn glowed a faint blue as she flicked it upwards with a grimace, and the chains binding Scrivener's forelegs shattered, falling limp and letting the male wheeze and carefully wiggle his front limbs free as Luna stepped forwards and grasped the side of the T-shaped pillar… and then she looked up in surprise as the Velite scurried forwards and grasped the other arm of it, helping her lift the pole off and shove it off to the side so he could sit up and start yanking the bolts out of the manacles binding his back legs. "What devilry is this?" "I… you know." the Velite said awkwardly, and then he stepped backwards nervously before simply dumbly sitting back on his haunches, looking at her awkwardly. Luna looked back for a few moments, then slowly looked towards Scrivener Blooms, giving him a pointed glare as the half-earth pony, half-Wyrm snorted and managed to yank one of the restraining bolts free. He shook a manacle off… then winced as the other glowed blue before tearing itself in half as Luna bowed her head towards him, saying grumpily: "Come, Scrivy. Let us return home, this foray into the wilds has been more taxing than I expected and we still have much to do, and much to plan." Scrivener grunted as he stood up¸ then he smiled as he approached her, the winged unicorn gazing up at him in surprise before she smiled faintly when the male leaned forwards and embraced her fiercely, whispering a 'thank you' into her ear, thoughts and emotions and worries and reassurances swirling between them as she hugged him tightly back, the two resting in silence for a few moments before they pulled apart… then quietly turned and began to stride away from the ruins of the Velite encampment. After only a dozen steps or so, however, Luna halted as her face twitched, and Scrivener couldn't help but grin despite himself as she shot a horrible glare over her shoulder at the Velite that was awkwardly following them, the female asking rudely: "Looking to take me up on my offer of a swift death?" "No, no, no!" The Velite flinched, shaking its head wildly as it held its hooves up, and Scrivener had the distinct impression that if the Velite could blush, it would. "I just… well…" "Out with it creature, what?" Luna snapped grouchily, and the Velite twitched backwards before the winged unicorn added flatly: "I shall thank thee but we already have an undead pet, and one that is made of far sterner stuff than thou art." "Wait, come on, can't I come with you guys?" The Velite winced a bit, gesturing at himself awkwardly, and Luna's face curled as if she had bitten into a lemon as Scrivener smiled in entertainment, half-turning and making Luna grumble as she shoved her face against the side of his neck. "I… I never chose to become this, you know, I was just… minding my own business, trying to survive in the wasteland the world had become, and then one day I'm being dragged out of bed and before I know it they're… torturing me and…" The Velite hugged itself and shivered a bit, resting awkwardly back on his haunches and looking lamely towards the two. "But… a lot of us were like that, you know? They just kept trying to brainwash us between bouts of hurting us… and all the original Velites were fixated on was hurting everypony to make their own pain stop hurting, to… worshiping their dead goddess, Veliuona. But most of us… half of us were there because they thought becoming a Velite would let them survive in this broken world. And most of the rest were like me… poor slobs who got dragged off and tortured into these new shapes, spirits bound into our bodies as they skinned us alive and tried to make us just like them…" The Velite hesitated, looking down, and Luna sighed against Scrivener's neck before mumbling a bit… and then the skeleton looked up, rubbing awkwardly at his vertebrae neck as he asked lamely: "So can I come and hang out with you guys? I mean. I don't want to go find the other Velite bands, and I definitely don't want to join up with Nibelung raiders… I just kind of… want to hide somewhere safe." "And what makes thou think it would be safe with us?" Luna asked sharply without looking up from where her face was buried against Scrivy's neck, as the male reached up and gently stroked his claw through her mane, making her mumble a bit and press closer. "Scrivener I demand thou eats this annoying skeleton. Thou art a giant monster. Eat him." "I'm not giant, Luna, and I'm not going to eat him. Try and be a little nice." Scrivener replied kindly, and then he grunted when she smacked her head against him firmly, the Velite looking at the two awkwardly as the half-pony, half-Wyrm smiled a bit towards him. "It's alright. We're both just a little grumpy on account of… well. What just happened. So you'll pardon us for being suspicious." "What… are you two?" the Velite asked hesitantly, and Scrivy and Luna both looked at the skeleton with entertainment as the creature winced back a bit, waving its front hooves. "I-I mean, you… the zealot called you a demon and a whole lot of fancy names and said Luna probably was using you as a thrall or something. I mean… but you're and… her… and…" "'Tis my husband." Luna retorted, glaring at the skeleton, and the Velite rose one hoof, then simply dropped it dumbly as it gaped and processed this. "Oh… dratted stupid skeleton. Very well! Fine! If Scrivener Blooms continues to insist that we 'play nice' and thou seems so determined to make a nonsensical nuisance of thyself, we might as well add another freak to our growing menagerie." "I'm… I'm not a freak." the Velite said awkwardly in a hurt voice, but Luna only grumbled and spun around, storming forwards as Scrivener shrugged amiably before he followed the winged unicorn, and the skeleton winced and hurried after them, saying quickly: "My name's Pollen!" "I don't care." Luna said grouchily, and Scrivy laughed despite himself as the Velite hurried after them, looking thankful despite the winged unicorn's tone for its new allies. Top ↑ Category:Transcript Category:Story